Kerry: December START vote critical

[babylonsister]

Kerry: December START vote critical
By J. Taylor Rushing - 11/29/10 05:00 PM ET


Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said it’s crucial to ratify the new START treaty during the lame-duck session and that failure to do so would harm America’s image abroad.

Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made his arguments in a forceful speech on the Senate floor late Monday.

It was the second part of a joint effort with the Obama administration to push for a vote on the 28-page treaty in the Senate. Earlier in the day, President Obama told reporters he intends to make the START treaty a priority in a Tuesday meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House. Obama called the treaty “essential to our safety and security.”

Meanwhile, Kerry used his 35-minute floor speech to push back against GOP criticism that the treaty would erode the U.S.’s nuclear protections and is being rushed through the Senate. Countering critics point-by-point, Kerry said the treaty has already been repeatedly delayed and that an ongoing failure to ratify it is actually harming America more.

“With one simple vote before we leave here in the next days, we could approve the new START treaty and make America and the world more secure, and take an important step forward in leadership, as we express to the world our sense of responsibility with respect to nuclear weapons,” Kerry said. “That’s the opportunity we have.”

more...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/130993-kerry-december-start-vote-critical

[karynnj]

1. This is must see TV if you want to easily know the issues and the counters to republican excuses

Kerry gets better and better in making the case on this as it goes on. Here is the CSPAN link - http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=599216397 This becomes classic Kerry.

K&R on this thread